business
Newsday reporter
THE EVOLUTION of businessman David Hartman’s Morvant-based transport company is a case study in how companies can identify gaps in a market and fill them while also doing something of a public service.
Mr. Hartman, 26, set up a business in 2020. What started as a mini-mart later became the Hartman Group of Companies and General Construction Ltd.
Operating out of Morvant, the company began focusing on transportation in 2021. As companies sometimes avoid service areas considered “high risk” due to crime or poor road conditions, it was a gap that was expected to fill was completed.
“I’m trying to break down that barrier to show that everyone can have goods and services and get the same treatment that other communities enjoy,” Mr. Hartman recently told Business Day.
There is a huge demand for its transport service. He has been asked to deliver everything from furniture to lunches and sandbags for flooding. 15-hour days have become the norm for him.
But Mr. Hartman should not provide such services.
While crime may once have been associated with so-called “hot spots”, and while in some assessments the same areas around eastern Port of Spain have been singled out for particular disapproval by local and international entities, there is something downright discriminatory in the generalizations of I did often. in risk assessments.
At this stage, crime affects more communities that may be banned from rideshare apps or shunned by larger, more traditional ridesharing services.
At the same time, businesses cannot be faulted for taking steps to reassure and protect their workers when it comes to working in areas that have well-documented histories.
And with the police accompaniment provided to state entities and societies in these areas, it is difficult for the private sector not to make distinctions. It is well known that even rideshare companies and traditional taxis have stopped entering deep into certain areas, after incidents of robberies or murders. A rigid cultural perception has been created around law enforcement statistics.
Mr. Hartman’s effort is a way to redraw the invisible boundaries that now shape these realities. It’s also a way to acknowledge the needs of underserved areas of the country and reverse the vicious cycle of stigma, turning “risk assessments” into self-fulfilling prophecies.
In addition to connecting different communities, he secures his neighborhood and uses every opportunity to hire people. He has 15 part-time employees at his construction company and four loaders at his haulage business, all from Morvant. He also hopes that his work can cause more opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive.
This kind of activity is essential if we want to break the cycle that encourages people to have a limited sense of self. It should be applauded and supported as much as possible.
However, the challenges Mr. Hartman will face are many. The outlook for crime is not promising; there are many problems in the infrastructure; and troubled global economic conditions suggest tough times ahead for small businesses. He may yet be called upon to evolve his business once more.
